Inside the New York Yankees clubhouse with MLB.com beat writer Bryan Hoch.

9/14 – Yankees at Rays

Hello from under the sloping, oatmeal colored roof of Tropicana Field, where the Yankees have their first chance to reclaim first place in the American League East after losing their grip on it last night with a 1-0, 11-inning loss to Tampa Bay.

This marks just the second time since June 20 that the Yankees have not sat atop the division, having slipped a game back of Tampa Bay on August 4. Other than that, it’s been the Yankees to hold, although the Rays and Bombers have been within 2 1/2 games of each other in each of the last 49 games.

A few Yankee doodles for you from tonight’s official Game Information file:

EXTRA, EXTRA: The Yankees fell to 4-5 in extra-inning games this season following Monday’s loss at Tampa Bay…have dropped their last three extra-inning games on the road and have dropped four of their seven extra-inning affairs away from Yankee Stadium this season…the Yankees’ nine extra-inning games are the fewest for any Major League team in 2010…fell to 1-5 in extra-inning games all time at Tropicana Field.

HEAD SCRATCHERS: The Yankees have suffered five “walk-off” losses this season, one more than their total from 2009…have endured three such losses in their last four games, including back-to-back such defeats on Friday and Saturday at Texas (the Yankees’ first back-to-back “walk-off” losses since 5/15-16/01 at Oakland)…the Yankees last suffered three “walk-off” losses in the same road trip in 2003, losing three games (7/26 at Boston, 8/1 and 8/3 at Oakland) in “walk-off” fashion over a nine-game stretch away from the Bronx.

CLOSE CALLS: Of the Yankees’ 70 road games this season, 42 have been decided by three runs or less including 16 of the last 19 and 18 of the last 23…12 of the Yankees’ last 19 road contests have been decided by one run with the Yankees going 4-8 in those games…the Yankees are 16-16 in one-run contests in 2010, including an 11-12 mark away from Yankee Stadium…eight of the Yankees’ last 12 road losses have been by one run.

TAMPA CHAMPS: Single-A Tampa secured their second straight Florida State League championship last night with a 9-0 win vs. the Charlotte Stone Crabs (TB affiliate)…marked the fifth FSL title for Tampa as they became the first team to repeat as champs since the 1975-76 Lakeland Flying Tigers.

Double-A Trenton will play in the Eastern League championship series vs. Altoona beginning tonight…is the third time in the last four years the Thunder will play for the EL title, winning back-to-back championships in 2007-08.

This was a tough game. I was on my way home from Cooperstown & had to listen to the broadcast from Sterling & Susie. After my partner said no way the yanks could lose this game, (my son & I said it’s only the 6th inning) anything can still happen; & then of course it did. Lucky for us it turned out okay. But my main subject here is the play by play of that 7 run inning by Sterling & Sue. They had someone in there the whole inning talking about next years pitching staff. They missed batters, pitch counts,one batter came up & the first pitch we heard was when it was already 1-2. You woul think that a game with 1st place on the line & Tampa scoring 7 runs would be more important than next years pitching staff. Just think John let the moment & the inning get away from his job. Anyone else hear this.

I kinda liked the Minor league post, But since their seasons are about over we’ll have to wait til next year for more….. I’ll be rooting for Cano to go over the 100 RBI mark tonight. We keep hearing how bad Kearns & Berkman are, We should be bitching about our big 3 Jeter, Tex & Arod not getting the big hits with men in scoring position, They are the ones making the big bucks. Yes, I know they are getting the RBIs & scoring runs but they are K-ing too much, not getting the Bat on the ball to move a runner along…. Looking for a good game from Hughes tonight…..”GO YANKEES!”

Nova has to learn how to pitch when he’s in trouble. Unfortunately, during a pennant race seems like a bad time to let the kid develop. It will bode well for both his and our future.

Kearns may be slumping, but his hit Monday could have won the game if Gardner stayed at second. I still see him maintaining his lifetime OBP of .350 and I’m more comfortable with him in the field over Thames. Playing everyday may be wearing on him.

As far as Berkman is concerned, his BA for September (and the last 30 days) is .444!

Some of you should check stats before you blurt out what you perceive!!!

We had some real good performances last night, Nova again did a good job until he ran out of steam. Again, poor managing by Joe leaving the kid in too long. Posada’s great pinch hit homer. It surprised the sh** out of me when he hit it, Granderson’s unbelievable and possible game saving catch and of course the tremendous arm of Golson to nail the speedy Crawford at 3rd for the preserve the important victory…. How many more games can Joe try to or just give away?? As far as Berkman and Kearns theyr’e here so give them a chance, They’ll help down the stretch, I hope!!!. ………………..
“GO YANKEES!”

Jorge has a poor record as a pinch hitter but came through big time tonight. Let’s hope that Mo can hold on for the win. Whether the Yankees win or lose tonight Girardi needs to take the heat for a bad decision regarding Nova. 7 run inning was totally unecessary and turned a rout into a nail biter. Mo didn’t get it done with the Rangers but hope he’s in his usual groove tonight.

Can anyone of the Yankee relievers pitch more than one inning?? My God, Wood has once again given up zero runs and is taken out after ONE inning? What the *ELL, girardi. This game should have be a laugher and instead it is what it is. Kearns has been a LOUSY pickup, 0 for 5 with 4 K’s, go the ^ell back to the Tribe.

A lousy pick up. Kearns and Berkman. they have screwed up the chemistry of the team and the lineup as far as I’m concerned. We’re going with a really weakened lineup with Swisher, Posada and Gardner out. Tex has to start hitting the long ball. He’s been really spotty this year. 9th inning and 1,2,3 gone for the Yankees. All the Rays need to do is score one run in the bottom of the 9th and we’re behind 1 1/2 games and falling fast. Who’s pitching for the Yankees in the 9th? whoever it is he needs to shut the Rays down to give the Yankees another inning to try to get something done. I can’t believe it’s come down to this tonight with the Yankees being ahead 6-0 in the 5th inning. Unbelievable!

It’s time to pinch hit Swisher and Posada. We’ve got too many of our regulars out of the lineup tonight. Girardi has turned a sure win into a nail biter and he deserves the criticism he’s going to get tonight.

oneof5 Berkman was walked in that inning. You want to point the finger point it at Austin Kearns. In that situation bases loaded and one out PUT THE DAM BALL IN PLAY. With Swisher and Gardneer out this is what you get. Regardless of whether the Yankees win or not this is an ABSOLUTELY CRAP job by Girardi. If the rumors are true I will pay his flight to Chicago to get him out of there. Sick of watching his BAD managing late in the season.

The bottom of the 5th could be the WORSE performance by a Yankee manager in history. A 6-0 lead evaporates to a 7-6 lead for Tampa. As soon as Nova got into trouble get out the hook but NO not our Cub manager. He is now at the level of Joe Torre in his last two yrs. what the *ELL is wrong with you Girardi? IDIOT!!!

This should not have been a close game. The Yankees had this going away. The difference was Girardi’s decision to leave Nova in 2 batters too long, going with the stats sheet instead of seeing that Nova was tiring and he wasn’t locating his pitches and was getting hit. Forget the stats sheet and match ups and go with your common sense. Give the Rays that kind of opening and they’ll kill you and they’re doing it. Now Joba is in. Which Joba will this be?

Terrible management tonight. And I don’t like Berkman or Kearns. They should have had more than 1 run in that inning. They need to take advantage when they have it. It’s just more of the same for the Yankees of late. Giving up leads. They are not worthy of being division leaders at this point. Bases loaded and only 1 run. What a lousy piece of hitting by Berkman, Kearns and Curtis. The bottom of the lineup is the pits.

Terrible management tonight. And I don’t like Berkman or Kearns. They should have had more than 1 run in that inning. They need to take advantage when they have it. It’s just more of the same for the Yankees of late. Giving up leads. They are not worthy of being division leaders at this point.

Can anyone tell me why Girardi has Berkman and Kearns hitting after each other? Personally I don’t think either of them are good hitters anymore and weren’t good pick ups by the Yankees. They’re not compact hitters. Too much arm and body movement. I don’t have any real confidence in either of them to get a hit and to advance runners. They gave up too much for them. The yankees haven’t been doing well since they picked up these two guys and now it’s different people in and out of the lineup and it’s spoiled the chemistry of the team I believe. Unfortunately Thames isn’t hitting like he was for a number of games when he was on fire but maybe it’s because Berkman came back from injury and Thames hasn’t been getting into enough games.

What a lousy piece of hitting from the Yankees in the first couple of innings. Don’t like Kearns at all at the plate. Tex fouls out. Noone can bring Granderson in from 2nd after a nice double. Noone can bring in guys on 1st and 2nd. Young Curtis swings at a bad pitch. We’ve got our B team on again. No pop in the bottom of the lineup at all. We can’t go far with this lineup. If we don’t get Swisher and Gardner back soon and Andy in the starting rotation we’re going into a deeper and deeper hole. The Red Sox aren’t out of it yet if the Yankees lose too many games down the stretch. There’s no guarantee of a playoff if they don’t start winning and keep winning. They say they don’t want to be the wild card team but at this point that’s what the Yankees are playing like.

Back in time

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